Second Place
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: Drabble. Bishop and Torres go for a morning run. .::established!Ellick::.


**Second Place**

An NCIS drabble

by mew-tsubaki

Note: The _NCIS_ characters belong to Donald P. Bellasario, not to me. Ellick fluff comes pretty naturally, I guess? Thank gods for that. XD Read, review, and enjoy!

\- ^-^3

September—all the crisp smells, all the crunchy sounds of leaves finally ready for winter, all the sights of people beginning to bundle themselves and their friends and family up should the stern gusts of D.C. turn suddenly into the angry flurries of the Northeast—was here at last. And Eleanor Bishop, cozy in her long-sleeved, long-legged jogging outfit, was ready to trade in these early morning autumn runs in the local park for a hot cup of apple cider and the morning paper at home.

Up ahead, Torres looked over his shoulder at her and smiled. "You're doing better!" he called to her.

Bishop used up some of her remaining energy to smile back, and she meant it as thanks. After all, he wasn't wrong; they'd been running together in the morning for the past few weeks since it still annoyed her how fast he was, and she'd harped on about the topic to her boyfriend long enough that he'd caved and promised he'd train her up to the point where she just might one day lap him instead of the other way around.

Alas, while she definitely could run farther than before without cramping up, she still lagged behind, and Torres didn't mind that. Case in point: He turned around to face her and began to cheer, clap his hands to some unknown beat, and sway his hips in what he called a victory dance for remaining in first place. Granted, it was childish. But it was also kind of cute and endearing, and it made her smile grow.

"You know you're ridiculous, right?" she called back to him.

Torres laughed in response.

Bishop debated the pros and cons of nicknaming him "Hermes" then—him being fleet-footed was a reference she knew McGee and Kasie would appreciate…Palmer, too…probably even Gibbs and Vance—but held off when she noted Torres was coming back towards her. And picking up speed. And the excitement on his face was morphing into urgency. "Nick?" she cautioned.

Now he came at her full-charge, and she could hear his mumbling as it grew in volume. "Big dog, big dog, _big dog, BIG DOG_!"

She had less than half a second to stare at him, bewildered, before he ran right for her and scooped her up in his arms princess-style as if she weighed nothing. Without wasting a single drop of energy, Torres turned heel and hightailed it out of the park, unflinching even as her ponytail smacked him in the face. Bishop had to cling to his neck at this speed. "What the hell, Nick?!"

_"¡Hijo de perra! That's not a dog; that's a small horse_!"

Bishop highly doubted that, but she leaned back to catch a glimpse over his shoulder. "Nick, it's just a Great Dane. He probably saw us running and wanted to join us. Or play Chase."

Torres grimaced. "Well, big dogs like that can eat you, so _hell no_."

She couldn't help it: She laughed and laughed _hard_. He shot her a look, but she hugged him tighter to indicate it was without malice. She simply couldn't get over his overreaction and how he grabbed her without a single thought and hauled ass…

After all, how could she think she was still in second place when she clearly was first in his thoughts?

\- ^-^ 3

**I needed something completely ridiculous for them just because. XD This idea came about from a s14 ep, the one where Torres and Quinn supposedly outdo Bishop and McGee when running and, while it turns out Quinn cheated, Torres really is that fast. So I took Bishop's grumbles of not wanting to be left behind and morphed it into this. XD Torres' curse was chosen on purpose, too, given the dog chasing them. But also I can deffo see him having the mindset that anything bigger than a lab is too big…and I don't blame him, *lol*. Lastly, I think I commented "Triage" would be better as a short comic, but tbh this drabble would also make an excellent comic, so once I have more practice drawing Ellick, maybe we'll see it? Idk. Ah, well.**

**Thanks for reading, and please review! Check out my other **_**NCIS**_** fics if you liked this.**

**-mew-tsubaki XD**


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